Plug-in solar panels go on sale for £699 – but you need a garden
Technology will help lower energy bills, but users need a balcony or other outdoor space to optimise savings
3 min read
Plug-in solar panels are cheaper than their traditional counterparts and can cut a household’s energy bills by generating electricity and reducing the amount drawn from the grid (Photo: UKSol)
No 10 has no immediate plans to subsidise the cost of plug-in solar panels which go on sale on Thursday, but suggested local authorities and charities would be able to do so.
The panels, which are plugged directly into a mains socket like any other device and then placed on balconies and outdoor spaces, are officially made legal on Thursday and will be stocked by major retailers priced at £699.
Asked by The i Paper if subsidies would be available for poorer households, energy minister Martin McCluskey appeared to leave the door open, saying there were no plans “at the moment”.
Caption: President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Photographer: Manuel Balce Ceneta Provider: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Source: AP Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Donald Trump has signed an executive order aiming to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America.
Here’s why, and whether the move is actually likely to work.
Split custody
One of North America’s five Great Lakes, Lake Ontario straddles both the United States and Canada; its northern and western shores sit in the Canadian province of Ontario while its southern and eastern shores fall in the US state of New York.
Caption: YOUNGSTOWN, NEW YORK – AUGUST 27: Visitors to Old Fort Niagara State Park relax on the shores of Lake Ontario August 27, 2026 in Youngstown, New York. U.S. President Donald Trump today signed an executive order renaming the smallest by surface area of the five Great Lakes, Lake America. (Photo by John Normile/Getty Images) Photographer: John Normile Provider: Getty Images Source: Getty Images North America Caption: TOPSHOT – A Canadian flag flies along the waterfront of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on August 27, 2026. US President Donald Trump announced that he is renaming Lake Ontario — a large body of water shared by the United States and Canada — “Lake America.” Trump signed an order in the White House in a move that comes amid a spiraling trade war between the world’s largest economy and its northern neighbor. (Photo by Cole Burston / AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: COLE BURSTON Provider: AFP via Getty Images Source: AFP Copyright: AFP or licensors
There is no universally recognised international body setting the names of international waters, but the lake’s name has its roots in the indigenous word “Ontarí’io”, often translated as “great lake”, and traces back several hundred years.
Tariff retaliation
It comes after trade talks broke down between the two neighbouring nations last week.
That led the US to impose new 50 per cent tariffs on $20bn (£14.7bn) worth of Canadian goods.
In response, Canada is set to introduce “dollar for dollar” counter tariffs starting next month.
Caption: President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Photographer: Manuel Balce Ceneta Provider: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Source: AP Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Caption: WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 27: A map labeling Lake Ontario as “Lake America” is displayed as U.S. President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order during an event in the Oval Office of the White House on August 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” amid an ongoing trade war between the U.S. and Canada. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) Photographer: Andrew Harnik Provider: Getty Images Source: Getty Images North America Copyright: 2026 Getty Images Caption: President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Photographer: Manuel Balce Ceneta Provider: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta Source: AP Copyright: Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
What has Canada said?
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney responded to the news by saying “things must be called by their name, and this lake is called Lake Ontario – today and forever”.
Carney also highlighted that the lake’s current name predates the formation of both the Canadian Confederation and the US Declaration of Independence.
Caption: TOPSHOT – (FILES) The US and Canadian flags flutter next to the Blue Water Bridge border crossing in Point Edward, Ontario, on October 24, 2025. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on August 22, 2026 he would slap retaliatory tariffs on the United States after walking away from a “bad deal” on trade, deepening the rift between the longtime allies. Negotiations between the neighboring countries broke down on Friday in Washington, allowing new 50-percent US tariffs impacting some $20 billion worth of goods, or 5.5 percent of Canadian exports to the United States, to come into force. (Photo by Geoff Robins / AFP via Getty Images) Photographer: GEOFF ROBINS Provider: AFP via Getty Images Source: AFP Copyright: AFP or licensors
Trump’s executive order says it gives 30 days for the name change to be updated with the Geographic Names Information Service, the official repository of domestic geographic names in the United States.
While the US President generally has discretion over how their country recognises landmarks, other nations do not have to follow suit.
Caption: Stars around a blood-red moon during a partial lunar eclipse in San Diego, California, U.S., August 27, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake Photographer: Mike Blake Provider: REUTERS Source: REUTERS
The August full moon, also called the Sturgeon Moon, lit up the night sky on Thursday. Here are a few of the best images.
The name’s origins
The August full moon, which reached its peak in the UK shortly after 5am on Friday 28 August, is also commonly referred to as the “Sturgeon Moon”.
Why?
That’s thanks to North American fishing tribes, who are understood to have dubbed it as such because the sturgeon species of fish appeared in number during this particular month.
Caption: Sturgeon fish swimming in a large aquarium tank Photographer: Calimeron Provider: Getty Images Source: iStockphoto
Why was this Sturgeon Moon red?
In many parts of the world, including the UK, California and Australia, a partial lunar eclipse – whereby the Earth passed between the sun and the moon, placing the moon briefly in its shadow – was also observed.
Caption: The partial lunar eclipse of the August full moon, known as the Sturgeon Moon, is seen in the skies over the Isle of Dogs, London. Picture date: Friday August 28, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire Photographer: Yui Mok Provider: Yui Mok/PA Wire Source: PA Copyright: PA Wire Caption: The partial lunar eclipse of the August full moon, known as the Sturgeon Moon, is seen in the skies over Masthouse Terrace Pier on the Isle of Dogs, London. Picture date: Friday August 28, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Yui Mok/PA Wire Photographer: Yui Mok Provider: Yui Mok/PA Wire Source: PA Copyright: PA Wire
As sunlight that passes through the Earth’s atmosphere is scattered, and red light can pass through in greater abundance due to its longer wavelength, the moon appeared to be tinged red, earning the phenomenon another nickname: “Blood Moon“.
Pictures around the world
Caption: A commercial aircraft takes off during the start of a blood-red lunar eclipse as the moon rises in San Diego, California, U.S., August 27, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Photographer: Mike Blake Provider: REUTERS Source: REUTERS
Caption: Stars around a blood-red moon during a partial lunar eclipse in San Diego, California, U.S., August 27, 2026. REUTERS/Mike Blake Photographer: Mike Blake Provider: REUTERS Source: REUTERS Caption: RYLSTONE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 28: A ‘Sturgeon’ full moon rises on August 28, 2026 in Rylstone, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images) Photographer: Mark Evans Provider: Getty Images Source: Getty Images AsiaPac Copyright: 2026 Mark Evans
Safe to see
Visibility in many parts of the UK may not have been great, though.
That’s due to both cloudy skies and the moon’s low positioning in the sky during the partial eclipse.
Still, unlike the recent solar eclipse, this astronomical event is at least safe to observe with the naked eye.
The latest as extra police deployed to Middlesbrough
Hundreds of extra police officers have been drafted in after a series of deadly incidents in Middlesbrough.
Caption: Police officers at the scene on Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, where Valentina Foster, aged seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died following a fire at an end-of-terrace property on Wednesday morning. Police are not ruling out a possible link between the fatal house fire and a crash on the A66 less than two miles away that killed seven people. Picture date: Thursday August 27, 2026. PA Photo. Cleveland Police said two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and they remain in police custody following the fire. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Photographer: Owen Humphreys Provider: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Source: PA Copyright: pa media
Series of violent incidents
A spate of violent incidents has occurred in Middlesbrough in recent days:
On Saturday, a head-on car crash killed two police officers and five young men.
On Wednesday, a house fire claimed the lives of a seven-year-old girl and her aunt.
Other reported incidents have included a stabbing and properties being rammed by cars.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show several cars on fire at a vigil on Thursday night for one of the men killed in the crash.
Multiple blazes
The house fire in Grangetown, east of Middlesbrough, on Wednesday killed Natalie McDonald, 34, and seven-year-old Valentina Foster and injured four others.
Caption: MIDDLESBROUGH, ENGLAND – AUGUST 26: Extensive damage is seen at the scene of a house fire on August 26, 2026 in Middlesbrough, England. Cleveland Police have launched a murder investigation after a fatal house fire in Grangetown, Middlesbrough, left two people dead and four others hospitalised in the early hours of Wednesday, 26 August 2026. Investigators have stated they are keeping an open mind and cannot rule out links to wider organised crime. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images) Photographer: Ian Forsyth Provider: Getty Images Source: Getty Images Europe Copyright: 2026 Getty Images Caption: GVs of a field at Haswell, County Durham, where cars were torched at a memorial event for Michael Cahill, one of the men who died in the VW Passat in the A66 crash. Picture date: Friday August 28, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire Photographer: Tom Wilkinson Provider: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire Source: PA
On Thursday evening, videos shared on social media seemingly showed several cars on fire in Haswell, County Durham, at a vigil where balloons were released in tribute to one of the men killed in the A66 crash.
Investigations ongoing
Local police have not ruled out a link between the crash and the fatal house fire.
Several arrests following the crash are reportedly part of investigations into alleged organised crime.
Meanwhile, two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the house fire.
Meanwhile, Durham Constabulary said the behaviour of the crowd who set fire to a number of cars was “completely unacceptable”.
Police were called out to a private field shortly after 5.30pm on Thursday, where five vehicles were wrecked as a large crowd gathered to release balloons, flares, and fireworks.
Nobody was injured and the officers deemed it safest to let the vehicles burn-out. No arrests were made in connection with that incident.
Caption: GVs of a field at Haswell, County Durham, where cars were torched at a memorial event for Michael Cahill, one of the men who died in the VW Passat in the A66 crash. Picture date: Friday August 28, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire Photographer: Tom Wilkinson Provider: Tom Wilkinson/PA Wire Source: PA
Cars have reportedly been set on fire in Peterlee in a vigil for a man who lost his life in the tragic A66 crash. The incident took place at the site of a balloon release thought to be a tribute to one of the victims, Michael Robert Cahill. Cahill, 23, died in the motorway crash last weekend near Middlesbrough alongside four other civilians and two police officers. #News#UK#middlesbrough
Amid the incidents, which local MP Andy McDonald described as “terrorism”, councillors revealed 200 extra police officers from forces including the National Crime Agency were helping under-pressure Cleveland Police staff with investigations.
Caption: Police officers at the scene on Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, near Middlesbrough, where Valentina Foster, aged seven, and Natalie McDonald, 34, died following a fire at an end-of-terrace property on Wednesday morning. Police are not ruling out a possible link between the fatal house fire and a crash on the A66 less than two miles away that killed seven people. Picture date: Thursday August 27, 2026. PA Photo. Cleveland Police said two men, aged 23 and 31, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and they remain in police custody following the fire. Photo credit should read: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Photographer: Owen Humphreys Provider: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire Source: PA Copyright: pa media
People are saying they are going to their shops and not feeling safe to do so and feeling trapped in their own homes. That is just unacceptable. This is terrorism and we’ve got to have an appropriate response to deal with the people who are causing such mayhem in our communities and to allow people to lead their peaceful lives.
andy mcdonald, labour mp for middlesbrough and thornaby east
WEATHER NEWS
Where heavy rain and thunderstorms could hit
Caption: It’s raining heavily, wearing an umbrella during the rainy season Photographer: sarayut Thaneerat Provider: Getty Images Source: Moment RF Copyright: Sy
Thunderstorms and heavy rain could hit large parts of the country over the bank holiday weekend, forecasters have warned.
New weather warning
A new yellow warning has been issued by the Met Office for heavy showers and thunderstorms which could cause travel disruption and flooding across much of England and Wales.
The warning, in place from midday until 9pm on Friday, means flooding of some homes and businesses is likely, trains may be delayed and car journeys may take longer.
The thunderstorm warning covers most of Wales plus southwestern and northwestern England and both the East and West Midlands.
Yorkshire and Humber could also be affected, as could much of eastern and central England, as well as London.
Thunderstorms will bring 10-20mm of short-lived rain in a few places with the potential for 30-40mm where there are repeated downpours, the Met Office said.
Fresh flood alerts
Meanwhile, fresh flood warnings and alerts have been issued after dozens of homes were damaged by flood water following widespread drought conditions.
Caption: YORK, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 10: An general view of the River Ouse and water flooding riverside properties on December 10, 2025 in York, England. Flood warnings were issued on Tuesday along the River Ouse and River Derwent, where water levels were already high in the flood-prone region before the arrival of Storm Bram brought additional rainfall. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images) Photographer: Christopher Furlong Provider: Getty Images Source: Getty Images Europe Copyright: 2025 Getty Images Caption: Heavy rain fall in Cambridge today. Many parts of southern England expected to get some heavy rain fall with some areas experiencing some flooding. Photo released 27/08/2026 Photographer: James Linsell Clark / SWNS Provider: James Linsell Clark / SWNS Source: James Linsell Clark / SWNS
As of Friday lunchtime, there was a warning for expected flooding at Walverden Water at Nelson, Lancashire, while 10 areas were covered by Environment Agency flood alerts, meaning floods are possible.
An unsettled weekend
The unsettled weather is set to continue through Monday.
Some sunny spells are expected to be mixed with more heavy rain and possible thunderstorms.
Fresh westerly winds will also make it feel blustery.
Scotland is likely to be wettest on Monday while England and Wales can expect some sun and showers.
Caption: Engineer plugging in laptop cable wire to solar panels Photographer: Westend61 Provider: Getty Images/Westend61 Source: Westend61 Copyright: Westend61 / Veam
Adam Forrest
Scotland Correspondent
The price of plug-in solar panels is expected to drop to under £600 in the weeks ahead, with more retailers beginning to sell the renewables kits.
First steps
British company UKSOL, selling its one-panel kit for £699, has become the first supplier to meet regulatory compliance for the devices.
with a decent chance of seeing the seventh heatwave of the year in early September there is still time to start making any outlay back (Photo: Sunphol Sorakul/Getty Images/Moment RF)The Government estimates that a typical UK home could save £70 to £110 a year on their energy bills from plug-in solar (Photo: Nikola Stojadinovic/Getty Images/E+)
The 460W panels are on sale through Argos and builders’ merchant City Plumbing, with more retailers expected to follow after new rules allowing sales of plug-in solar products in the UK came into force on Thursday.
Wickes and Currys join solar rush
Wickes said it would be making plug-in solar available to its customers “in the coming weeks” while Currys said it was working to make these products “available to UK households as soon as possible, including through both our website and larger stores”.
Lidl, Asda, B&Q, Screwfix and Amazon have all expressed interest in the self-install kits but are yet to offer an update on their release.
Could plug-in solar panels cut hundreds of pounds off your energy bills? Self-install solar kits that plug directly into a standard UK three-pin socket are now going on sale for around £699, after new regulations came into force. The Government estimates households could save £70 to £110 a year, but one early adopter told The i Paper he’s on course to save more than £300. Read more about how plug-in solar works and how much you could save at the link above. #News#EnergyBills#UKPolitics#SolarEnergy#SolarPanels
It led to claims by poverty campaigners that the much-anticipated roll-out of plug-in solar power could “entrench the divide between people who can afford to take energy saving measures and those who must cut back on energy use due to a lack of affordability”.
The announcement that the panels will now be legal to buy came as Ofgem raised the energy price cap by 4 per cent, or £73, to £1,935 a year from October – the highest level in three years.
Responding to the increase, Andy Burnham said: “We’ll continue to look as we go forward at how we get energy prices down in the long term, and that’s what we need to do too.”
While the technology is widely used in countries like Germany, it has been illegal in the UK up until now under safety regulations.
However, after the completion of an independent safety study, the Government has declared that the technology is safe to use with UK wiring and new regulations will come into effect on Thursday allowing the kits to go on sale.
McCluskey said that the Government expected the price of single panel kits to settle at between £400 and £600, and that Argos would be among those selling them from Thursday with “other retailers to follow soon after”.
Single-panel kits could save households up to £110 a year on their bills, with each kit producing up to 800 watts – enough to power 20 per cent of an average home’s electricity use – or roughly sufficient to run a fridge, television, Wi-Fi router, laptop, phone charger and an Xbox S at once when the sun is shining.
He said: “At the moment we’re not proposing delivering them through a Government scheme from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
“But obviously local authorities, charities, others will have their own funds that they could choose if they want to subsidise plug-in solar or to purchase plug-in solar for their residents… there’s nothing standing in their way of doing that.”
Ministers will ‘look more closely’ at subsidies
McCluskey said that ministers would “look more closely” at whether subsidised units would be “something in the future that we might provide through Government schemes”. He said if local authorities wanted to do it now they had his “enthusiastic” support and “should get on and do it”.
The government had previously indicated that it would pilot free plug-in solar panels for some households under its Warm Homes Plan.
Plug-in solar is seen as particularly promising for people like renters and those in flats, who have struggled to benefit from traditional solar in the past.
Many renters will still have to get permission from their landlords to use the kits, but McCluskey urged landlords not to stand in the way.
“We have written to the National Landlords Association, making quite clear the benefits of plug-in solar, and would hope that that would be looked on favourably by landlords,” he said. “I don’t see a reason why a landlord should needlessly withdraw consent or not provide consent for that when the safety case is robust.”
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh said that plug-in solar would be a “simple, affordable way for households to take control of their energy bills and start saving straight away” and that it would allow people to benefit from “clean homegrown energy”.
Fears over energy divide
But poverty campaigners have questioned whether cash-strapped local authorities can afford to give out grants, and suggested the Government could do more to make them more affordable.
Simon Francis, co-ordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: “Households struggling with further increases in energy bills or in energy debt cannot find several hundred pounds up front, however good the payback looks over four years.
“The danger is this could entrench the divide between people who can afford to take energy saving measures and those who must cut back on energy use due to a lack of affordability. In the current climate, expecting charities or local authorities to cover this cost is unrealistic.”
Jonathan Bean from Fuel Poverty Action added: “We should all be getting our fair share of the cheap clean energy from our wind and sun. Government must make solar power, storage and cheap tariffs available to everyone, not just a privileged few.”
